in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania

Algirdas Pakstas, Norwegian Institute of Technology

Sonata Pakstiene, Lithuanian Academy of Sciences

espite the independence they won from the former Soviet Union early in this decade (see the sidebar “About the Baltic states”), Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania still reflect their past dependency on the old USSR in terms

of information technology and electronic networking. Even today. most of the technology and hardware in the three Baltic republics

continues to bear the “Made in USSR” imprint. Research into fields like cybernet- ics and genetics was previously discouraged as politically undesirable in the USSR. and in the Baltics as well. Hence, the only people in the Baltics who nowadays need such communications media as electronic networks are certain members of the academic and business communities.

Industry and local banks still rely on old methods. using telegraph and telex equipment. A manager in the Baltics would consider the facsimile technology that has become commonplace in much of the industrialized world in the past several

Although now independent from the erstwhile USSR, the

Baltic states lag behind much of the

computing world. Yet their connectivity is better than that of

many former Soviet republics.

September 1993

years to be the ultimate in technological achievement. But leaders in the Baltics are becoming acutely aware that, in today’s scientific

world. computer networks accelerate the process of obtaining and exchanging research results and establishing useful contacts. Hence, they are working to establish a stable academicnetwork in the three states that links them with the rest of the computing world.

Their goals are

to connect researchers in various academies of science and universities to European networks by extending existing networking facilities (from dial-up- based electronic mail and very restricted on-line access to permanently available network services - for example, FTP. Telnet, Archie, Gopher, etc.);

to provide permanent access to databases and information systems widely available elsewhere in the world;

to integrate scientists into international projects; to continue research in areas such as distributed computer systems, since

international networks can provide a new technological basis for such work: and

I

About the Baltic states

The Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, are situated along the

They were ruled by their more powerful neighbors for two centuries before shores of the Baltic Sea.’

gaining their independence in 1918. However, during World War II, they were overrun by the Soviet Union.

The USSR ruled the Baltics until its recent collapse. Lithuania ended a half century under Soviet rule on March t 1, 1990, when it reclaimed its indepen- dence. Estonia and Latvia followed suit the next year after the August 1991 coup in Moscow.

Estonia, the northernmost of the three states, is bordered by the Gulf of Finland on the north, Russia on the east, the Baltic Sea on the west, and Latvia on the south. Made up of a mainland area and some 800 islands, Es- tonia covers about 17,400 square miles (45,100 ulation was estimated at 1,565,000 in 1989, with about two thirds of that figure. The capital city is Tallinn, with a population of some 484,000.

Latvia lies east of the Baltic Sea, south of Estonia and the Gulf of Riga, west of Russia, and north of Belarus and Lithuania. It covers 24,600 square miles (63,700 square kilometers) and has a population of 2,680,000 (1 989 estimate). More than half of its people are Latvians. Riga, with a population of 916,500, is the Latvian capital.

Lithuania is bounded on the north by Latvia, on the east and southeast by Belarus, on the southwest by Poland and the Russian oblast of Kaliningrad-

as Mazoji Lietuva or Eastern Prussia), and on the west of 25,200 square miles (65,200 square kilome- of 3,675,000 (1 989 estimate). Ethnically, more

eople are Lithuanians. Its capital is Vilnius, with a

Reference

1 nce Book, Estonian Encyclopaedia PuMishers, Latvian Ency- nian Encyclopaedia Publishers, Talllnn-Riga-Vilnius, 1991.

to support the transfer of expertise to the Baltic countries, thereby reduc- ing the national expense of research programs.

Business and banking would also bene- fit from such developments.

Researchers have studied communi- cation infrastructures, computer tech- nologies and international research, and academic networking in industrial coun- tries,’ in less industrialized countries* (includingcentral and eastern Europe3), and in the former USSR.4 A number of authors are continuing their research in these areas.

International connectivity is growing at a rapid pace.’ Meanwhile, the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization has proposed networking guidelines.h

This article reviews previous and cur ren t networking activity in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania7.* in

the hope of contributing to future de- velopment.

Technologic a1 background and early networking

Despite major Soviet technological achievements in space research (such as the Sputnik launch in 1957, Yuri Gagar- in’s flight in 1961, and automated vehi- cles intended to reach the moon and other planets), most areas of computer science and technology in the erstwhile USSR lag far behind the West. Some areas of computer science theory are well developed, but the general level is low.

For example, software engineering and object-oriented programming, based on knowledge gained on large projects and providing new programming tech-

nologies, are not yet studied at universi- ties in the region.

The reasons for this could make a fascinating subject for post-Communist sociological and economical studies and research. Our task here is to show some more-or-less typical examples.

Reasons for the current situation. Limited in capability, most of the first- and second-generation computers in the Baltic countries were developed by the Soviets. Some of this equipment was still in use recently (for example, the often-upgraded 56-bit-word-memory second-generation BESM-6). The third- generation machines introduced in the West featured ICs rather than transis- tors, and standardized peripheral inter- faces and operating systems (for in- stance, the IBM-360 under OS/360). When this class of equipment arrived on the world market, the Soviets were limited to copying the technology used by such companies as IBM, Digital Equipment, and Hewlett-Packard.

In the 1970s, Eastern bloc countries -led by the Soviets -started produc- ing EC-lOxx mainframes that were com- patible with the IBM-360/370. In 1980, they began producing the CM-yyyyminis in two lines that were compatible with theDECPDP-l l /VAX-l l andHP.The resultant time lag in production tech- niques meant that the minis the Soviets produced were about five to seven years behind those of western competitors, and the other “new” mainframe com- puters were about 10 years behind.

Even today, the average Soviet com- puter center is equipped with technolo- gy that trails the rest of the computing domain by 10 years. The exceptions are the wealthier agencies (such as the Min- istry of Geology) that have access to hard currency. These agencies were able to purchase more modern equipment, often via third countries in violation of regulations of the Coordinating Com- mittee for Multilateral Export Control (CoCom). With their heavy dependence on Soviet technology, the Baltic coun- tries were in a similar situation.

Baltic computer and electronics in- dustry. The Vilnius Factory of Calculat- ing Machines in the Lithuanian capital is the center of computer manufactur- ing in the Baltics. Opened in 1956, the factory originally produced electrome- chanical cash registers. It was upgraded in 1960 to produce card-punching equip-

54 COMPUTER

ment and the EV-80 electronic calcula- tor.

New data processing devices followed each year, including the EASP-S elec- tronic random process analyzer. the EVP 80-2 Ruta electronic computing punch. the RM-80 decoding device, and the Ruta 110 - the factory’s first general- purpose electronic computer.

The factory is now the headquarters of the Lithuanian industrial conglomer- ate Sigma. Formed in 1966, Sigma now comprises factories in Vilnius, Pan- evezys, Telsiai, Taurage, and Pabrade. plus two design centers in Vilnius.

Initially required to supply the Soviet Union with equipment for processing statistical information, Sigma developed into a minicomputer vendor. Its most recent product is the supermini CM1700 that is compatible with the DEC VAX 111730. Sigma currently concentrates on manufacturing MicroVAX- and IBM PC-compatible computers and telecom- munications equipment.

Latvia is known for manufacturing radio sets, electronic and communica- tion equipment, and telephones. The Vef factory in the capital city of Riga is a direct descendant of the Telefunken division that existed there until 1940.

Companies called Venta in Vilnius and Nuklonas in Siauliai produce ana - log and digital ICs in Lithuania, as does Alfa in Riga, Latvia.

Computer science in academies and universities. The Baltics feature three kinds of research organizations: acade- mies of science, universities, and indus- trial research institutes. The primary scientific research is concentrated in the academies of science.

The Lithuanian Academy of Sciences was founded in 1940, and Latvian and Estonian science academies were founded in 1946. All three are modeled after the USSR Academy of Sciences, as were other such organizations in all Eastern European countries. Each Bal- tic academy has about 10 institutes that cover the primary sciences: physical- mathematical, biological-chemical. and social.

Computer science is taught at the In- stitute of Mathematics and Informatics (MII) in Vilnius, the Institute of Elec- tronics and Computer Techniques (ESTI) in Riga, and the Institute of Cybernetics (KI) in Tallinn, Estonia. Computer science is offered at three of Estonia’s five institutes and universi-

ties, three of Latvia’s 10. and four of ty in Riga was founded in 1919. And in Lithuania’s 14. 1990. Lithuania opened the new Uni-

The campuses vary in age. For ex- versity of Klaipeda and reopened the ample, Vilnius University (VU) is the Vytautas Magnus University in Kau- successor of the Jesuit Academy nas, which had been closed during founded in 1579. The Latvian Universi- Soviet rule.

Related abbreviations and acronyms

Academnet: Academy of Sciences network in the former USSR. CCITT: International Consultative Committee for Telephone and Telegraph. CEEC: Central and Eastern European Countries. CIS: Commonwealth of Independent States. DKEARN: Denmark’s main EARN node. EARN: European Association of Research Networks (European Bitnet). ESTI: Elektronikas un Skaitlosanas Tehnikas lnstituts, Latvijas Zinatnu Aka-

demija, (Institute of Electronics and Computer Techniques), Riga, Latvia. Fidonet: Worldwide amateur network. FTP: File-transfer protocol. GPNTB: Gosudarstvennaya publichnaya nauchno-tekhnicheskaya biblioteka

IASnet: Institute of Automated Systems network (Vsesoyuzny Nauchno-

IP: Internet protocol. ISO: International Standards Organization. ITU: UN International Telecommunications Union. KI: Kuberneetika Instituut, Eesti Teaduste Akadeemia (Institute of Cybernet-

KTU: Kaunas Technological University, Kaunas, Lithuania. Literanet: Lithuanian Electronic Research Academic Network. LTEARN: Name reserved for Lithuania’s main EARN node. MII: Matematikos ir lnformatikos Institutas, Lietuvos Mokslu Akademija (Insti-

tute of Mathematics and Informatics), Vilnius, Lithuania. MTA: Message transfer agent. NCAD: National Center for Access to Databases in Russia. NORDUNET: Networking program funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers

(NMR). Administration of NORDUNET is hosted by the Swedish Institute for Computer Science.

NORDUnet: International backbone that interconnects national networks in the Nordic countries: Denmark (DEnet), Finland (FUnet), Iceland (Suris), Norway (Uninett), and Sweden (SUnet).

(Russian State Public Scientific-Technical Library).

lssledovatelsky lnstitut Prikladnykh Avtmotizirovannykh Sistem), Moscow.

ics), Tallinn, Estonia.

NSFnet: US National Science Foundation Network. PTN: Public telephone network. RARE: Reseaux Associes pour la Recherche (Association of European Net-

RIPE: Reseaux IP Europeens. Rlogin: Internet‘s remote log-in procedure. SUEARN: Russia’s main EARN node. SUnet: Swedish University Network. TCP: Transmission-control protocol. Telnet: Internet’s terminal emulation service. UNESCO: UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Uninett: Norwegian Universities Network. UUCP: Unix-Unix communication protocol. VINITI: Vsesoyuzny lnstitut Nauchnoy i Tekhnicheskoy lnformacii (Russian

All-Union Institute of Scientific and Technical Information). VNIIPAS: Vsesoyuzny Nauchno-lssledovatelsky lnstitut Prikladnykh Avtmo-

tizirovannykh Sistem (Russian Institute of Automated Systems), Moscow. WEP: Well-known Entry Point.

working Organizations).

September 1993 55

Communication infrastructures in the Baltics. With dozens of digital switches and region-to-region lines, new wiring, and so forth, the public telephone net- work (PTN) in the Baltic countries is the most modern in all the onetime So- viet republics. In fact, the PTN in Lithua- nia was the pilot for Soviet telecommu- nication vendors.

Most Baltic regions and villages are now accessible via Soviet-manufactured digital switching equipment called Kvarc, which lets users dial direct both nationally and internationally. This equipment is essential for development of modern computer networks.

Before 1991, all international calls were routed through Moscow and were restricted to the countries of the old Warsaw Pact. For example, 14 interna- tional lines from Vilnius to Moscow served a population of 3.7 million. The rest of the world was technically acces- sible by direct dialing, but this was only permitted by PTN operators from au- thorized phone numbers. The Lithua- nian PTN’s fax bureau in Vilnius fea- tured this service. By comparison, in Moscow, direct worldwide dialing was only available at a specialized phone station. Hence, the only international phone calls that were allowed had to originate in certain districts or by spe- cial contracts.

The quality of long-distance and in- ternational dial-up connections from Vilnius was acceptable, even for data communication. Calls to and from Po- land were the exception because the lines between Poland and other coun- tries were usually overloaded.

In October 1991, a satellite channel was established between Vilnius and Oslo, Norway; the antenna was on the roof of the Lithuanian Parliament build- ing. This represented the beginning of reliable communication with western countries.

Estonia started to offer direct-dialing facilities to the West in April 1992. In Latvia, direct dialing is still available only at specially connected phones (in hotels and so forth), and hard currency must be used. However, a Latvian mo- bile phone network is now under devel- opment.

The International Telecommunica- tions Union (ITU), a UN agency, has assigned international phone code 370 to Lithuania, 371 to Latvia, and 372 to Estonia. The assignment and initiation of national numbering zones (area codes)

within the Baltic countries was com- pleted early this year.

Because of the poor quality of phone lines, data communication via modem requires the use of equipment with Mi- crocom Networking Protocol Level 5 (MNP-5) error-correction and adaptive real-time data compression facilities. In theory, MNP-5 yields 200 percent pro- tocol efficiency, or 4,800 bit-per-second throughput in a 2,400-bps modem in- stallation.

Network-based computer applica- tions. Computer applications in the Baltics are similar to those in the rest of the computing world. Typical fields in- clude scientific calculations, office au- tomation and business applications, manufacturing, real-time process con- trol, home applications. and services.

Scientific cnlculations. These are most- ly concentrated in the academies of sci- ence and universities and are performed on IBM-360/370 mainframes. Remote access (via dial-up lines and modems) to large computer centers was estab- lished in the late 1980s in Lithuania between Kaunas and Vilnius. in Latvia within Riga, and in Estonia between Tartu and Tallinn.

Office automation and hzipiness ap - plications (banks, statistical bureaus, and accounting agencies). These are also performed on IBM-360/370 mainframes and, in recent years, on PCs. The three countries have begun developing an elec- tronic fund-transfer system for state banks that meets the specifications of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications.

Mnnzfactzrring (planning and produc- tion control). These applications are also performed on IBM-360/370 mainframes and, in recent years, on PCs. Network- ing is practically nonexistent. although some factories have PC-based local area networks.

Real-time process control. This is done on mini- and microcomputers. Distrib- uted computer control systems and flex- ible manufacturing systems have not been implemented because they are still too expensive compared with the cost of human labor.

H o m e npplications (games. text pro- cessing. and so forth). Home computer-

ization started in 1987 with computer games on Sinclair-Spectrum computers; these are now the most popular home computers. Since Zilog-80 micropro- cessors are the least expensive, some people have been able to create their own designs. The use of private mo- dems and access to Worldwide Ama- teur Network (Fidonet) nodes is re- stricted to selected professionals.

Services. The only widespread net- work-based computer application for ordinary citizens involves the reserva- tion of transportation tickets. The fol- lowing ticket-reservation systems exist:

Sirena. This Aeroflot (Soviet air- lines) system used to service domestic (previously, all main cities of the former USSR) flights on a minicomputer net- work with nodes in the main cities. The only current nodes in the Baltics are in Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. Sirena uses only USSR-manufactured components (computers, terminals, and modems). Since the airline companies in the Bal- tics are no longer part of the Aeroflot system, Sirena will have to be modified, discontinued. or used only for interna- tional Baltic-Commonwealth of Inde- pendent States (CIS) flights. Aeroflot also has a system that was purchased from a western firm and serves inter- national flights with worldwide ter- minals.

Express. This train-ticketing system runs on central mainframes in Moscow The only remote terminals are located in booking offices (for example, Vilnius has one such terminal). The system serves only long-distance trips via Mos- cow. General domestic train communi- cation and timetable information is not yet computerized. The future of this system should be similar to Sirena’s.

Zntercity hrms . Until April 1992. it was impossible to book tickets for this mode of transportation via computer or to obtain computerized information about bus routes and timetables. The first system for intercity buses was implemented in Vilnius (although it lacked network connections with other cities).

There are no computerized shops or restaurant5 with bar-code readers or computeriied bill printing.

Shared PCs and workstations (386/ 486 processors or Sun equipment). These

56 COMPUTER

1

are very scarce. In 1991, for example, the MI1 employed about 450 people but only 20 PCs; of the 20, only three or four had 386 processors. The number of PCs has doubled to 40 for use by 200 people. The PCs are, in fact, not personal com- puters, but rather shared computers. Lithuania has no Sun or other non-PC- compatible Unix workstations. It was only in March 1992 that the K1 in Esto- nia received its first Sun-3, a second-

ter Lithuania proclaimed restoration of its independence in March 1990, access to SFMT and western databases be- came difficult because IAS began to require payment in hard currency in- stead of “soft” rubles. The last messag- es to SchoolLink were transmitted in early May 1990. Access to databases via NCAD also was terminated.

pean Association of Research Net- works), the Internet, and so forth.

Recent networking activity

When Mikhail Gorbachev initiated perestroika in the USSR in 1985, the wall between the East and West was Academnetexperience.TheAcadem-

hand workstation donated by the Finn- ish Division of Sun Microsystems. A similar donation was later delivered to Latvian University.

net was developed in the 1980s, based on plans of the former USSR Academy of Sciences. X.25 protocols were the heart of the system.

Academies of sciences in the Baltic republics, especially the ESTI in Riga, participated in the project. It entailed the organization of Soviet and interna- tional conferences, and the publication of material about the Open Systems

Access to western databases. The In- InterconnectioniInternational Stan-

Networking during Soviet rule

partially dismantled, paving the way toward creation of an open network between the two spheres.

Fidonet. Fidonet activity in the Bal- tics began in Tallinn in 1989-1990 be- cause networking enthusiasts were able to find support from the Estonian PTN for a dial-up connection to Helsinki, Finland. Tartu and Riga were the next cities connected to the network, and

stitute of Automated Systems (IAS or VNIIPAS, the Russian abbreviation) in Moscow is well known both within the old USSR and among foreign organiza- tions as a network service supplier. IAS was recognized as the only organization providing such a service.

IAS computers were the center of IASnet, an X.25-based network con- nected to Europe by a 2,400-baud line to Prague in the former Czechoslovakia and then to computers of Radio Austria PSS. Typically, they were set up to ac- cess western databases (Inspec, Com- puter, and so forth). End users were connected to this service by the Nation- a1 Center for Access to Databases network. (NCAD) in Moscow and supported by IAS through three hundred 2.400-baud leased lines to remote terminals at dif- ferent sites.

In 1986, under a contract between

dardsorganization (0SIiISO)network- ing model, international standards, and recotnmendationsof the CCITT, IEEE, and so forth. ESTI developed LANs between 1985 and 1987, but they weren’t widely used; there were about 10-15 installations outside ESTI.

During implementation, Academnet encountered typical Soviet-related problems; for instance, the limited tech- nical capabilities of Soviet-manufactured computers (although they were usually compatible with IBM mainframes and DEC minis); a poor but expensive com- municationinfrastructure;andpoor do- mestic (USSR) databases accessible via

At M11, for example, an Academnet node was installed i n 1985-1986 based on a CM-1300 computer (similar to a DEC PDP 11) with hardware adapters and software for packet switching ac-

Lithuania joined it in the autumn of 1990.

In December 1990, about 10 Fidonet nodes and points were operating in Tallinn, two were in Riga, and one, or- ganized by the Technical Bureau of the Lithuanian Parliament, was in Vilnius. By November 1992, the number of Fi- donet nodes and points in the Baltics had grown to nearly 265, with some 11 1 in Estonia, 100 in Latvia, and 53 in Lithua- nia. They are distributed among seven cities in Estonia, 15 in Latvia, and six in Lithuania.

Other regions of the onetime USSR (as of November 1992, about 10 - for example, Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Kazakhstan) were alsoconnected to the Fidonet by the Tallinn-to-Helsinki channel.

Relcom. In August 1990, Moscow IAS and MII, a remote NCAD terminal was established in Vilnius via 300-baud modem. A leased line from Vilnius to Moscow was used about 3-4 hours a week. Sometimes, it was possible to ac- cess the All-Union Institute of Scientif- ic and Technical Information (VINITI in Russian) and the Russian State Pub- lic Scientific-Technical Library (GPN‘I’B in Russian) databases in Moscow.

Via the IAS terminal and the San Francisco-Moscow Teleport (SFMT) channel, the first on-line connection with a GTk node in the US was cstablished iii 1990. 1-hc iuimectiuii ciidblcd Lithud nian children to participate in the glo- bal SchoolLink project sponsored by GTE Education Services. However, af-

cording to X.25 recommendations. Be- cause of the high cost of the leased line from Vilnius to Riga, the unreliable operation ofback-end databases (mainly at VINITI and GPNTB), and limited end-user interest, this node was “fro- zen” after a short period of operation. At that time, the term froren was used to describe the status of equipment that was switched off with no indication of when or if it would go back into opera- tion. This particular node was never used again.

It is difficult to say what the current state d Acadenitwt is. At any rate, it is safe to state that Academnet nodes are not ready for integration into other net- work structures: Bitnet/EARN (Euro-

started the Relcom network supported by the I.V. Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy and the cooperative firm Dem- os.“ At the time, the IASnet link from Radio Austria PSS to Moscow was heavi- ly overloaded. Further, the route prior- ities favored long messages, so that in- teractive links from academic sites with short mail messages experienced long delays - in some cases, weeks. As a result, the only solution for Relcom was to connect to the West via the Finnish Unix User Group node (fuug.fi) through dial-up lines from Moscow to Helsinki. 1 his wassoinetiniespossible via the spe- cialized phone station in Moscow.

Today, it is possible to log interactive- ly via Relcom into certain Russian com-

7

puters over academic nets from sites in Europe.

Estonian networking activity. As men- tioned above, Estonia played a pioneer- ing role in Baltics networking because of its close relations with Finland (for example, through Fidonet activity).

The Unix-Unix Communication Pro- tocol (UUCP) e-mail connection to Fin- land, similar to the one provided by Relcom, was established at the end of 1990 by the KI.

Today, three independent networks in Estonia have gateways to the Inter- net. Chronologically, they are

(1) Fidonet-based network. This is connected to the Internet via a gateway in Helsinki. As of November 1992, Es- tonia had Fidonet nodes and points in Parnu, Polva, Rakvere, Saue, Tallinn, Tartu, and Tartumaa. In fact, some of the nodes in Tallinn serve as hubs for main Fidonet nodes located in the former USSR.

(2) UUCP-based network. Connect- ed to Helsinki, this initially operated under the .ew.su subdomain. UUCP- based nodes that belong to the Estonian Academy of Sciences are being con- nected to gateways provided by domes- tic Internet nodes, but not to those of foreign nodes.

( 3 ) Internet nodes. These are connect- ed by leased lines to Helsinki and Stock- holm, Sweden. Some of these nodes use secondhand Sun-3 computers that were donated to the Estonian Academy of Sciences by the Finnish division of Sun Microsystems. E-mail, Telnet, Rlogin, and FTP services are available.

In addition, Estonia is an active par- ticipant in the Baltbone project (see the description below) and works in close cooperation with NORDUnet to set up external Internet links.

Latvian networking activity. Data communication between Latvia and the rest of the computing realm began in the fall of 1990 when the first Latvian e-mail message was sent via dial-up con- nection to Switzerland.

Latvia developed its network much as Estonia did. Unfortunately, the Insti- tute of Electronics and Computer Sys- tems of the Latvian Academy of Sci- ences, which took the leading role dur- ing Academnet development, did not assume a similar role in later years.

Latvia has two independent networks with gateways to the Internet:

(1) UUCP-based network. A branch of Relcom, this network originates in Helsinki and reaches Riga via Moscow. Service is provided by two cooperative firms, Jet and Versia. It initially operat- ed under the .lat.su subdomain.

(2) Fidonet-based network. Started in 1991, this network is connected to the Internet via a gateway in Tallinn linked to Helsinki. In a sense, this network, sponsored by the Technical University of Riga, is designed for academic pur- poses. Its use is free.

Both networks have several dozen nodes and are reasonably stable. It takes a message an average of six hours to get to the Internet and back. During the summer of 1992, there were 93 UUCP nodes (88 in Riga and five in Daugavpils); about 100 Fidonet hosts in Latvia (lo- cated in Aizkraukle, Balvi, Daugavpils, Dobele, Iecava, Kraslava, Liepaja, Ramava, Rezekne, Riga, Salaspils, Sigulda, Talsi, Tukums, Ventspils) had e-mail connectivity.

Leased telephone lines for the Inter- net connection between Riga and Hel- sinki-Stockholm are available for about $2,000-$3,000 per month, but no one is able to pay this price right now. The Royal Institute of Technology in Stock- holm is implementing a 14.4-Kbaud link across the Baltic Sea, using a radio chan- nel. The Swedish University Network has offered to pay for the link to Got- land island off Sweden and subsidize the Internet traffic.

The European Unix Network, a com- plex connecting all former USSR UUCP network nodes (including its branch in Riga) via Helsinki, has offered to pro- vide a free connection for Latvia if a link to Scandinavia or The Netherlands is established.

Some experimental connections have been in existence from Riga to the In- ternet via the KI node since October 1992. This connection uses KA9Q soft- ware on a 486-based PC and a leased line to Tallinn. Unfortunately, the line hasn’t been totally satisfactory because of its limited speed (2,400 bps) and a lack of local infrastructure to connect all possible users. KA9Q is the usual name of the MS-DOS executable net.exe software implementing the Transmis- sion-Control ProtocollInternet Proto- col (TCPIIP), NetlROM, and AX.25

facilities. (KA9Q are the amateur radio call letters of Phil Karn, the initial au- thor of this package of amateur radio software.)

Latvia also participates in the Balt- bone project. Deutsches Forschungs Netz (DFN) sponsors another project that started in November 1992 and en- tails building links between the Univer- sity of Latvia and the Technical Univer- sity of Riga. Connecting the two institutes to DFN via a 64-Kbaud X.25 line is being considered. The University of Latvia is coordinating this project. Other initiatives are under way (includ- ing an application to the Sorros fund), although none has yet received financ- ing.

The University of Latvia established a coordinating committee for network- ing in November 1992.

X.25 services are available from the publicX.25 network Latpak and Sprint.

Lithuanian networking activity. Lithuania began searching for ways to establish international connectivity in the spring of 1990. At the time, only two options seemed feasible: (1) the UUCP connection requiring PCs under MS- DOS/Unix or (2) the BitnetlEARN con- nection requiring IBM-compatible main- frames.

Internet and UUCP. The MI1 Depart- ment of Software Engineering for Dis- tributed Computer Systems established the first Internet-addressed e-mail node in Lithuania (ma-mii.1t.m) in January 1991, shortly after obtaining a 2,400- baud MNP-5 modem (Viva 2400).

The Lithuanians investigated wheth- er to establish the UUCP connection via Relcom in Moscow, KI in Tallinn, or through Poland or the former Czecho- slovakia. At the time, it was possible to dial directly from Vilnius only to Po- land, Czechoslovakia, the former East Germany, and Bulgaria; however, in- formation about established network nodes in the latter three countries was not available.

After testing communication lines to Poland and Tallinn, the Lithuanians decided to set up a UUCP e-mail node hosted by an IBM/PC-compatible com- puter connected to Relcom.

During the summer of 1992, the node ma-mii.lt.su was t ransformed to sedcs.mii2.k. Those using the node are primarily from academic and research organizations, not only at MI1 but also

58 COMPUTER

at several institutes of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, the Center of In- formatics and Forecasting of the Minis- try of Culture and Education. and the Department of Mathematics of Vilnius University. The Literanet project, de- signed to extend existing UUCP facili- ties and link all Lithuanian UUCP nodes. has been implemented.

UUCP connectivity is also provided by several commercial organizations linked to Relcom. They are companies like Aiva, Elnet, andTipas. serving about 70 nodes in Vilnius: Lira, serving about 20 nodes in Kaunas: and Mes. serving about 10 nodes in Klaipeda.

Bitner/EARN. EARN provided Bit- netiEARN connectivity between Lithua- nia and Russia. The plan was to estab- lish an LTEARN node in Vilnius using an IBM-compatible mainframe connect- ed by leased line to the SUEARN node in the N.D. Zelinski Institute of Organ- ic Chemistry at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow. Connection be- tween the SUEARN node and the E A R N network was planned via DKEARN in Denmark. Currently. cer- tain academic organizations and cen- ters in or near Moscow are connected to SUEARN. (The now outdated SU pre- fix is jokingly described as “Such Useful EARN.”)

Lithuania applied for and received EARN membership in 1991. However, the LTEARN node operated for only a week in October 1991 before it was shut down; the necessary IBM-compatible mainframes were simply too expensive, so implementation of the project is on hold.

Latvia and Estonia haven’t expressed an interest in becoming EARN mem- bers or establishing BitnetiEARN nodes. But this might change since the six com- puters donated by IBM to two universi- ties in each Baltic country have been installed and are operating.

X.400. Part of a project supported by the Lithuania-Norway Association. the X.400 installation usedNorsk Data mini- and superminicomputers transported to Lithuania and installed at academic in- stitutions and universities. An X.400 message transfer agent (MTA) has been in operation at the Skailab (a former MI1 department) since October 10, 1991.’

The first X.400 MTA is running on an ND-570iCX 32-bit minicomputer un-

X.400 and European functional profiles The IS0 and CCITT have developed electronic messaging standards that re-

flect non-plain ASCII requirements important for Europe.

X.400: A set of standards from the I S 0 and CCITT that describe a mail ser- vice implemented by MTA.’ The only nonproprietary standard for interchange of electronic mail that has the sanction of an official standards body, it exists in three flavors: X.400184, Standard I S 0 Motis186, and X.400188.

X.400 describes a message as consisting of an “envelope” and “contents.” The contents consist of a header and one or more “body parts.” Each body part can be marked as a specific type. X.400 defines several “body part types,” including IA5 text (ASCII), GSFax, Teletex document, and “bilaterally defined.” IS0 Motis186 has also added IS06937 text.

Notis-Mail: This product of Norsk Data, called OS1 X.400 Mail since May 1992, has some key features from IS0 Motid86 and conforms to European functional profiles. Notis-Mail implements automatic conversion between the body part types it supports:

ND Text -> ISO, Teletex, or IA5. ISOiTeletex -> IA5 or ND Text.

Conversion is controlled by information the system supervisor enters into the directory about other X.400 systems with which a site desires to communicate.

The main facilities are

X.400 mail service. An integrated directory service, based on a 1986 draft of the X.500 stan-

dards.2 Unfortunately, X.500 changed a lot from the 1986 draft before it was approved. The Notis-Mail directory does not work with other implementations. It is possible to put information about people (including phone number, postal address, X.400 address, etc.) into the Notis-Mail directory and exchange batches of directory entries between Notis-Mail directories.

X.29 PAD (Packet Assembler/Disassembler) service is provided into and out of the ND-570 computer.

Teletex document: A body part of X.400, this should be a sequence of T.61 strings, where each T.61 string encodes one page of a Teletex document. T.61 is the CCITT recommendation that defines the character set used by the Teletex service. An 8-bit extension of ASCII, it uses nonspacing accent char- acters, so it can support all letters in use in European languages that use the Latin alphabet (including Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian).

ted and paginated document, this is text only; that is, IS0 6937 is ISO’s ver- sion of T.61 with a few extra characters defined.

IS0 6937: Unlike the Teletex body part, which is defined to contain a format-

References

1. J. Onions, “Components of OSI: X.400 Message Handling System,” ConneXions, May

2. S. Benford, “Components of OSI: X.500 Directory Services,” ConneXions, June 1989, Vol.

1989, Vol. 3, NO. 5, pp. 2-8.

3, NO. 6, pp. 2-9.

der a Sintran operating system that a Norwegian organization lent to the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences for an unspecified period. It has 30 Mbytes of main memory and 900 Mbytes of disk storage.

The computer is connected to Data- pak. the Norwegian public X.25 data network, via a 64-Kbaud circuit through an X.25 switch in Vilnius. Pre- viously. a 9.6-Kbaud circuit multiplexed

with several voice channels was con- nected to a 64-Kbaud satellite chan- nel from the Lithuanian Parliament to the Norwegian PTN. Currently. out- going X.25 calls from Vilnius are re- stricted to Norwegian X.25 addresses.

Uninett. the Norwegian Universities Network. provides message forwarding to the international research and devel- opment message-handling system net- work (X.400) and to UUCP, the Inter-

September 1993 59

Table 1. Domains and responsible organizations.

I 1 Domain Organization Domain Name Server ~ ~~

.ee Institute of Chemical, Physical, and Biophysics of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, Tallinn

.It Institute of Mathematics and Informatics of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, Vilnius

. lv Academy Network of Latvian Universities, Riga

~ ~~

uvax2.kbfi.ee sunicsunetse ns.eu.net ns.uu.net

aun.uninett.no hydra.helsinki.fi sunic.sunet.se ns.eu.net ns.uu.net

1apsene.mii.lu.lv sunicsunet .se ns.eu.net ns.uu.net

Table 2. National research and educational networks.

Network Organization IP NumbedClass

Estnet (Estonian Institute of Cybernetics 192.98.49.0/B Research and Education Network) of Sciences, Tallinn

Literanet (Lithuanian Institute of Mathematics 158.129.0.0/B Electronic Research Academic Network) Lithuanian Academy of

of the Estonian Academy

and Informatics of the

Sciences, Vilnius

LVnet Academic Network of 159.148.0.01B Latvian Universities, Riga

net, and Bitnet/EARN; unfortunately, Notis-Mail (see the “X.400 and Euro- pean functional profiles” sidebar) does not provide access to other e-mail pro- tocols (for example, UUCP or simple mail-transfer protocol).

Today, X.400 sites are in operation via dial-in modems at Skailab and Kau- nas Technological University (KTU). Both installations primarily serve their own user communities, although the Skailab installation also serves users from a number of organizations. Skai- lab was the only gateway to Uninett until October 1992 when an alternative one was set up at KTU.

The X.500 directories at VU and KTU are based on the original MI1 directory, but there are no regular updates be- tween these sites at present.

Commercial activity is provided by Taide, a company that is trying to estab- lish a commercial e-mail service with X.400 links to commercial services (for

example, Telemax, BT, and MCI Mail) in other countries.

FTP servers and other on-line re- sources are only available via corre- sponding mail servers. Hence, the X.400 node e-mail traffic is very heavy; in October 1992 alone, incoming traffic reached more than 30 Mbytes. As a result, the X.400 network is primarily used for mailing messages.

Fidonet. During 1991-1992, the num- ber of Fidonet nodes and points in Lithuania climbed to 53. By November 1992, there were 29 in Kaunas, 14 in Vilnius, seven in Siauliai, and one each in Klaipeda, Silute, and Marijampole. The number of operating Fidonet nodes and points is now declining because ac- tive users have begun switching to more reliable commercial UUCP services.

International connectivity in the Bal- tics. On June 3, 1992, the Internet’s

Network Information Center Defense Data Network issued registered coun- try top-level domains to the Baltic states: .ee for Estonia, .It for Lithuania, and .lv for Latvia (see Table 1). Table 2 shows the national research and educa- tion networks that were established and received IP numbers in 1992, and Table 3 shows the international connectivity of the Baltic countries, their nearest neighbors, and other c o ~ n t r i e s . ~

Compared with other former USSR republics, the Baltic countries feature better-than-average connectivity. Only recently did Russia establish experimen- tal TCP/IP connectivity. Among the CIS countries, Ukraine is the only one with a registered country top-level domain: .ua. Belarus has its own domain - .by - but it is only visible inside the Rel- com network and is not registered by the Internet. Bulgaria, the Czech Re- public, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Slovak Republic have been involved in the Phare project supported by the European Community. The Baltics be- gan participating in Phare this year.

It is hard to say precisely how many current network users there are in the Baltics, because many organizations use collective e-mail accounts; but there are about 900 in Estonia, 1,200 in Latvia and 1,800 in Lithuania.

International traffic in the Baltics passes free of charge. NORDUnet pays for the InternetlBitnet gateways. UUCP nodes connected to Relcom have sepa- rate contracts and are billed according to the value of the traffic. The use of dial-up lines is also billed by local Baltic PTNs.

E-mail-based distribution lists and Usenet news groups. E-mail is an essen- tial media for creating subject-oriented mailing lists, which are a useful form of interaction between widely scattered researchers. The creation of such lists is the first step toward integration.

Although networking activity in the Baltics is under development, there still aren’t many operating nodes that can support list servers or mailing lists. Thus, existing international lists are based on l i d m a i l servers located outside the Baltics (see Table 4). In addition, a cer- tain number of local mailing lists were established recently in Estonia, with postings in Estonian.

Balt-L mailing list. Started in June 1990 and transported via Fidonet, the

60 COMPUTER

Balt-L electronic newspaper is devoted to communications with and about the Baltics. The service intends to advance Baltic networking even further by es- tablishing the basic links to permit elec- tronic communications and by setting up a network of people who collaborate on matters of common interest.

One of the main purposes of Balt-L is to foster practical projects. The list has an administrator, and it broadcast its 3,000th message on November 24,1992.

A news group, soc.cult.baltics, was split off from Balt-L in March 1993. Accessible via Usenet, it will operate without an administrator.

NordBalt mailing list. NordBalt was established January 16,1992, for infor- mation exchange on Nordic-Baltic data communication activities. NordBalt is primarily designed for use in the Baltic region, but other European countries and former USSR entities are welcome to use it. The coexistent news group nordunet.dcom.baltics is the first such group totally devoted to serving the Baltic region.

CEECmailing list. Established in the summer of 1992, the Central and East- ern European Countries (CEEC) list is designed to coordinate the connectivity activities of eastern European countries. The list is supported by the Association of European Networking Organizations (RARE).

Traffic statistics

In this section, we compare available traffic statistics for one academic UUCP node with the total traffic of the Lithua- nian X.400 nodes. Estonia’s Internet traffic figures are not included here be- cause they are unavailable.

X.400 traffic statistics. Figures 1 and 2 show the statistics on X.400 traffic based on data compiled by H.T. Alves-

Table 3. International connectivity of the Baltics, nearest neighbors, and certain other countries.

Region Connectivity* Domain Registered** Country

Baltic countries

Commonwealth of Independent States (Former USSR, under .su domain)

Non-CIS republics (Former USSR, under .su domain)

Central and Eastern Europe (without the former Yugoslavia)

Certain less- industrialized countries

Nordic countries

-1UF- - -UFO -1UF-

- .U- . - -U- - - -UF- - -U- - - -Uf- BiUF-

- -U- - - -U- - - -UF- - -UF-

- -UF- - -UF-

- -U- - biUF- BIUF-

BIUFo BIUF- B- -f- bIUF-

- -ufO - -U- - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - -U- - _ _ _ _ _ bIUFo BIUFO

BIUFO BIUFo

-1UF-

.ee

.It

.Iv

.am

. az

.by

.kg

. kz

.ru

.tj

.tm

.ua

.uz

. ge

.md

.a1 JJg .cz

.hu

.ro

.sk

.cn

.kh

.la

.mn

.vn

.dk

.fi

.is

.no

.se

.PI

.cu

.kP

Yes Yes Yes

No No No No No No

No No Yes No

Yes No

Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes No No No No No

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Estonia Lithuania Latvia

Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Kyrgyzstan Kazakhstan Russian

Federation Tajikistan Turkmenistan Ukraine Uzbekistan

Georgia Moldova

Albania Bulgaria Czech

Hungary Poland Romania Slovakia

China Cuba Cambodia North Korea Laos Mongolia Vietnam

Denmark Finland Iceland Norway Sweden

Republic

* Legend: Minimal means < 5 domestic sites, and widespread means 2 5 domestic (1) Bitnet/EARN links (b = minimal, B = widespread); (2) Internet links (i = soon available, I = operational); (3) UUCP links (U = minimal, U = widespread): (4) Fidonet links (f = minimal. F = widemread):

sites:

(5) Networks offering X.400 services thai are connected to the Global Multiprotocol Open Internet (0 = minimal, 0 =widespread).

** By the Internet.

Table 4. Baltics-oriented mailing lists and list servers.

Mailing List Subscribers List Server/Mail Server OwnerlModerator

balt-l@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu 498 listserv@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu a.e.b.bevan@open.ac.uk

nordbalt@searn.sunet.se 70 listserv@searn.sunet .se matsb@asia.sics.se

ceec@rare.nl 58 mailserver@rare.nl kalin@rare.nl

September 1993 61

r “b

n r L30

- 20

4 - 10

. . . . . . .

arch April May June July Au Sep. Oct. 992 1992 1992 1992 1992 1982 1992 1992

messages and 1,256 incoming messages for a total of 2,508. Measured in Kbytes, the volume of traffic for the month was comparable: 7,235.3 for the UUCP node, and 1,851 + 6,823 = 8,674 for the X.400 nodes.

Foreign traffic was the main part of the academic UUCP-node traffic. This might be different for certain business organizations (commodity exchanges).

From this, we can conclude that high prices for long-distance calls put more direct pressure on the structure of dial- up-connected UUCP node traffic (that is, fewer long mail-server messages and more short person-to-person messag- es) than does equivalent bandwidth (2,400 bps).

Figure 1. Traffic statistics for Lithuanian X.400 nodes. Incoming traffic and out- going traffic are shown above and below the dashed lines, respectively. Baltbone project

outlook

12 p 10 0, E

. . . . . . . . . ........ ......... . . .. . . . . . k

July Auk $8 ,gi 1992 l Q 2 1

Figure 2. Message-size statistics of Lithuanian X.400 nodes. Incoming traffic and outgoing traffic are shown above and below the dashed lines, respectively.

trand of Uninett from October 1991 to October 1992. The statistics deal with communication between the Norwegian Well-known Entry Point and a WEP called Emilie, a Lithuanian supermini- computer gateway for all X.400 nodes in the Baltics.

After network operation stabilized in February 1992, outgoing messages av- eraged about 1.5-2 Kbytes and incom- ing messages averaged about 5-6 Kbytes. During the 13-month period, 28,279 messages, or an average of 2,175.3 per month, were transmitted. Of that total, 9,957 were outgoing messages, for an average of 765.9 per month, and 18,322 were incoming messages, for an aver- age of 1,409.4. The ratio of outgoing messages to incoming messages was 1 to 1.84.

UUCP node traffic statistics. These statistics were based on data compiled

on the PC/XT node in Vilnius and the Relcom UUCP server in Moscow in January and February 1992, after a year of operation. One dial-up line provid- ing a UUCPconnection operates at 2,400 bps over an MNP-5 modem.

The type of connection (leased line or dial-up) wasn’t significant, according to the data in Table 5 . The service pro- vider wasn’t able to furnish us with data about the ratio of UUCP incoming to outgoing traffic, but we believe it was about the same as for the X.400 traffic -that is, about 1:1.84.

Studying the statistics of the two sys- tems in February 1992 shows that the traffic of one UUCP node can exceed the traffic of an entire X.400 network. For instance, during the month, one UUCP node recorded 1,079 outgoing messages and 1,984 incoming messages for a total of 3,063. By comparison, the X.400 node recorded 1,252 outgoing

Europe is rapidly moving toward wide- spread use of IP communication proto- cols, and Eastern Europe would be well advised to follow the trend. Reseaux IP Europeens (RIPE), a collaborative or- ganization open to all European Inter- net service providers, intends to ensure the necessary administrative and tech- nical coordination to bring about a pan- European IP network.

RIPE does not operate a network of its own; however, since it was estab- lished in 1989, it has conducted the IP activity of RARE. More than 60 organi- zations participate in RIPE’S work.

Bitnet/EARN can operate over the IP. The cost of IP is very low, since a wealth of free software is accessible, and PC-based routers are cheap and adequate for modest performance pend- ing funding to buy expensive and tech- nically superior dedicated routers (for example, Cisco Systems). Because the opportunity to set up an IP network came late to Eastern European coun- tries, as it did to the UK, they can design it carefully and not end up with a rat’s nest of connections.

Baltbone is a joint project of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania designed to build a TCP/IP network backbone (prefera- bly with 64 Kbaud).

Topology and available channels. When fully operational, Baltbone will connect Tallinn, Tartu, Riga, Vilnius, and Kaunas, and will be linked via the Tallinn-Helsinki channel to NORDU-

62 COMPUTER

net'" and the rest of the computing are- na (see Figure 3).

An alternative for Lithuania might be a connection to Poland's research and academic computer network nodes in Warsaw or Bialystok.

Channels already available are

* a digital 34-Mbps microwave link between Tallinn and Helsinki;

* a 64-Kbps satellite link between Stockholm and Tallinn and between Stockholm and Tartu; a 64-Kbps channel between Tallinn and Tartu, built by grouping 12 an- alog voice channels; and a digital 64-Kbps link between Vilnius and Kaunas (starting with X.25 protocols).

The next Baltbone challenge will be to connect Vilnius, Riga, and Tallinn.

Routers, nodes, and software. The project plans to use routers from Cisco Systems as soon CoCom issues an ex- port licence. Point-to-point Protocol (PPP) software" already runs on a Sun 3/80 in Tallinn.

Until leased lines became available, countries with communications limita- tions could use the TCPlIP as an afford- able way to obtain dial-up connections. This was discussed at a RIPE meeting at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics in October 1991. RIPE recom- mended using IBM PC-based12 routers through two possibilities: PCRoute and the aforementioned KA9Q. PCRoute uses MS-DOS software to convert PCs into dedicated TCP/IP routers.

Both options would be slow and rela- tively expensive, but could provide im- mediate connections to transmit a size- able amount of e-mail. When a leased line becomes available, the same equip- ment can be used for lines up to 64 Kbaud.

Funding and political support. The Nordic Council of Ministers, UNESCO, and the US National Science Founda- tion have contributed financial support to the Baltics' networking efforts.

Nordic initiatives. NORDUNET pro- gram coordinators applied to the Nor- dic Council of Ministers to establish Baltic-NORDUnet connectivity and to support research and development in Baltic networking efforts. The council turned down one application in Octo- ber, 1991, but following lobbying ef-

Table 5. Tvpical traffic of academic UUCP node.

1 Month Traffic Messages Kb ytes

January Full 1992 Foreign

Region Relcom News-Relcom Service

February Full 1992 Foreign

Region Relcom News-Relcom Service

2,267 2,241

3 2 3

18

3,063 2,946

8 3

85 21

4,867.1 4,801.1

3.9 1.5 2.7

58.0

7,235.3 6,855.6

34.2 3.3

265.4 76.8

forts in PTNs and among politicians and users, the council voted to allocate 2.5 million Danish kroner (or about $360,000 in US dollars) in January 1993 to extend Baltic-NORDUnet networking infra- structures.

The council also allocated 150,000 Danish kroner to conduct a networking workshop for the Baltic countries; it was held in April 1993 at Latvian Uni- versity.

The NORDUnet staff is lending the Baltic countries its expertise, but an

even more systematic approach will be necessary to maximize their efforts.

UNESCO support . UNESCO has granted $100,000 for routers and other hardware to connect the national Baltic networks to the Baltic backbone net- working infrastructure and another $36,000 for network use in the distance education project in Lithuania.

NSF support. The NSF will sponsor research and academic networks to con-

- Operating links -- Experimental links 111111111 Planned links

land 9

E

Germany

Berlin 0 Poland -.y Minsk 0

Belarus *.e*

Warsaw a* Figure 3. Baltbone's operating, experimental, and planned links.

September 1993 63

nect the Baltic states with Internet’s Network Information Center and in- clude them in the NSFnet routing data- base. NSF’s decision was based on a June 5 , 1992, memorandum from the US Department of Commerce, Bureau of Export Administration, stating that Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were being granted the same networking sta- tus as Poland and the former Czecho- slovakia.

he status of networking in the Baltic countries is moderately satisfactory, since the main re-

search and education centers there now have access to e-mail and some (in Esto- nia and Latvia) have Internet on-line services (FTP, Telnet, and Rlogin). But the only entities with current access to fast, reliable networks are certain busi- ness organizations (commodity exchang- es) and academic organizations - al- though networks aren’t yet being used for direct educational purposes. Banks are also fast becoming interested in net- working.

Daniel Pimenta’ states that dial-up UUCP is a more affordable solution for less industrialized countries than Bit- net/EARN or TCP/IP, and we agree. High prices for long-distance calls con- strain dial-up-connected UUCP nodes more than the availability of leased lines or their bandwidths.

The principal reason for the current situation is the shortage of statewide development programs. All the progress we’ve mentioned is based more on the enthusiasm of the people in the Baltics than on any other factor.

We anticipate that genuine network administrative problems will arise when networks become as common in the Baltics as they are in other countries.

Finally, we believe that special edu- cational programs for the personnel of newly established networks, and popu- larpublications for end users about avail- able on-line resources, are urgently need- ed -perhaps even more than hardware and software donations.

Acknowledgments This work was partially funded by the

Royal Norwegian Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.

It would have been impossible t o prepare this article without the help of representa-

tives from the three Baltic countries a s well as from Norway and Sweden. The repre- sentatives include Mikhail Matskin and Ants Work of t he Institute of Cybernetics of the Estonian Academy of Sciences. Tallinn: Guntis Barzdins, Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science, Latvian University, Riga: Harry Bush, Riga. Latvia: Peter V m - lien. N D ServiceTeam AS, Trondheim. Nor- way; Harald Tveit Alvestrand and Hdvard Eidnes, SintefiDelab, Trondheim. Norway: and Mats Brunell. Swedish Institute for Computer Science. We are also grateful to Reidar Conradi of the Norwegian Institute of Technology. Department of Computer Systems and Telematics. Trondheim. Nor- way, for reviewing the article and for his useful discussions.

We used the comments of the anonymous reviewers as guidelines for the final revi- sion of the article.

References

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

I .

8.

9.

J.S. Quaterman, The Matrix: Compiiter Networks and Conferencing Systenis Worldwide. Digital Press. Bedford, Mass., 1990.

D. Pimenta, Research Networks in De- veloping Countries: Not Exactly the Same Story! R E D A L C Project. Union Latina, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Oct. 1Y92.

Z.J. Pasek. Eastern Europerrn Listof Elec- tronic Computer-Accessible Resources, Version 3.1. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Ar- bor. Mich.. Aug. 1992.

B. Travica and M. Hogan, “Computer Networks in the Ex-USSR: Technology. Users. and Social Effects,” in ASIS 92, Proc. 55th Meeting Ani. Soc. for Informu- t iori Science. D. Shaw, ed., Learned In- formation, Medford. N.J.. 1992, pp. 120- 135.

L. Landweber, Int’l Connectivity, Ver- sion 8. Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, Wis.. Apr . 1993.

Guidelines for a Computer Network In- terconnection of the African Countries, UNESCO, IIP Program, 1992.

A . Pakstas and S. Pakstiene, “ I T in the Baltic States.” Computer Bulletin. Vol. 4. Part 3, JuneiJuly 1992, pp. 18-20.

A . Pakstas and S . Pakstiene, “Network- ing in Baltic Countries: Current Devel- opments,” IPCCC 93, Proc. 12th I E E E Int’l Phoenix Conf . Computers und Conin?.. I E E E CS Press, Los Alamitos, Calif., Orde r No. 3800,1993, pp. 461-467.

P. Varl ien. Report on the X.400 Installa- tion ai the Institute of Mathmicitics and Informutic., in Vilnius, Lithuania, N D ServiceTeam AS. Trondheim, Norway, 1991.

10. M. Brunell and E. Loevdal, “ N O R D U - N E T and the NORDUnet , ” in User’s Directory of Computer Networks, T.L. LaQuey, ed., Digital Press, Bedford, Mass., 1990. pp. 239-241.

11. R . Hobby, “The Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP),” ConneXions, Apr . 1990, Vo1.4, No. 4, pp. 16-20.

12. C . Partridge, “Issues in Dial-Up I P Ser- vice,” ConneXions, Nov. 1989, Vol. 3. No. 11. pp. 4-5.

Algirdas Pakstas has been a postdoctoral research fellow a t the Norwegian Institute of Technology in Trondheim, Norway, since 1991. Previously, he served as a senior mem- ber of the scientific staff and head of t he Software Engineering for Distributed Com- puter Systems Groupa t the Institute of Math- ematics and Informatics, Lithuanian Acade- my of Sciences, Vilnius. Li thuania . H i s research interests are distributed systems. with an emphasis on software engineering, programming environments . a n d formal methods for CASE-like tools.

With a focus on radiophysics and electron- ics. Pakstas graduated from Irkutsk State Universityin the former USSRin 1980. H e is a member of the I E E E and the I E E E Com- munications Society.

Sonata Pakst ienehas been with the Institute ofMathematics andhfo rma t i c sa t theLithua- nian Academy of Sciences in Vilnius. Lithua- nia. since 1990. She serves as a junior mem- be r of t he scientific staff. H e r research interests are computer networks and distrib- uted systems, including simulation and orga- nization of message-handling systems.

Pakstiene is a 1990 graduate in applied mathematics from the Kaunas Polytechnic Institute in Lithuania.

Readers can contact the authors a t t he Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. Institute o f Mathematics and Informatics, Akademi- jos 4, LT-2600, Vilnius, Lithuania, e-mail a.pakstas@ieee.org o r (a.pakstas, sonata] @sedcs.mii2.lt.

COMPU I’EK 64